Farmland Atlas · county record

Benton County, Tennessee

Benton County, TN: non-irrigated cash rent $73 an acre (2026); land and buildings $3,196 an acre in the 2022 census; median corn yield 153.3 bu/ac. County averages from public records, not an appraisal of any farm. FIPS 47005. Figures as of 2026-09-20.

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Non-irrigated cash rent here runs $73 per acre, up 9 percent from 2016 to 2026. Corn yields trended up 5 bushels per acre a year over 2009-2023, with a median of 153.3 bushels per acre and a worst year of 72 in 2012. Heat and drought account for 47 percent of crop insurance indemnities since 1989, and that share moved 27 percent in 1989-1999, 50 percent in 2000-2009, 30 percent in 2010-2019, and 60 percent in 2020-2025. July nights have warmed from a 68.6 F normal to a 70.4 F average over 2017-2026, and only 2 percent of cropland here is irrigated.

Cash rent, non-irrigated
$73/ac
2026 county average
TN median $65 · tied for 38th highest of 87
Land and buildings
$3,196/ac
2022: what operators guessed land and buildings were worth
TN median $5,131 · 11th lowest of 93
Rent as % of land value
—
not shown: cropland is 40% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland
Corn yield, 2009–2023 median
153.3 bu/ac
11 published years
Claims paid per $100 of coverage
$13.07
2016–2025, closed crop years
TN median $8.40 · 24th highest of 71
Farmland rented
19%
2022 census, rented from others
TN median 28% · 14th lowest of 94

Cash rent

$0$20$40$60$80$1002010201520202025$58$73 dry

Dollars per acre, USDA NASS county survey. A break in a line is a year with no published survey; nothing is drawn across it.

Non-irrigated, 2026$73/ac
Change 2016 to 2026+9.0%nominal, $67 to $73

Land value

Land and buildings, 2022$3,196/acoperators' own estimate, not a sale price
Census 2012$2,241/ac
Census 2017$2,489/ac
Change 2017 to 2022+28.4%+5.1% a year, nominal
Dry rent ÷ census value— cropland is 40% of land in farms (2022 census), so the census value is mostly pasture, woods and buildings, not cropland

Corn yield

20092011201320152017201920212023125.089.272.0122.6165.6153.3159.2159.0175.0141.5158.6median 153.3

Bushels per acre, USDA NASS county yields, all practices. The dashed line is the median of the published years.

Median, 2009–2023153.3 bu/ac11 published years
Lowest published year2012: 72.0 bu/ac47% of median
Trend, 2009–2023+5.0 bu/ac a year±4.2 (95% interval)

Crop insurance record

Claims paid divided by total premium (the farmer share plus the federal subsidy), each closed crop year since 1989. Above the dashed line, the county's insurance book paid out more than it took in. 2026, still open, is left out.

Claims paid per $100 of coverage, 2016–2025$13.07
Loss ratio, 2016–20251.10claims ÷ total premium
Loss ratio, 1989–20251.04$12.6 million paid
Worst year2022ratio 1.61
Largest causes of loss, 1989–2025heat and drought 47% · excess moisture 44% · other 4%share of dollars paid

Drought and weather

2000200520102015202020259230

Weeks per year, U.S. Drought Monitor, with half the county or more in D2 (severe) drought or worse.

D2 or worse for half the county, 2000–202578 of 1,357 weeks6% of weeks
Year with the most D2+ weeks200723 weeks
Last five years, 2021–202519 weeks
July average of daily lows, 2017–202670.4 °F1991–2020 normal 68.6 °F
Trend in July lows since 1976+0.65 °F a decadewarming
Rain, April to September26.7 in1991–2020 normal; last ten years 99% of it
Days with hail 1 inch or larger0.9 a yearreports, 2010–2025; a zero is no report, not proof of no hail

Land, water and programs

Harvested cropland irrigated, 20222%
Drained by tile, 20224% of cropland1,029 ac
Farmed no-till, 202241% of cropland11,492 ac
Cover crops, 20227% of cropland2,037 ac
198619911996200120062011201620215447,3952,207

Acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, USDA FSA, by fiscal year.

CRP enrolled, 20252,207 ac10.7% of harvested cropland + CRP
CRP expiring FY2026–2028286 ac13% of enrolled acres
CRP average rental payment, FY2025$99/acall contracts in force, old ones included; not today's offer
Cattle and calves, 20224,252−49.4% since 2017
Farmland rented from others, 202219%census tenure, owned plus rented acres in farms

Next door

CountyDry rentLand valueCorn yieldClaims per $100
Benton County$73$3,196—$13.07
Carroll County$127$3,459152.4$4.63
Decatur County$75$2,946—$19.01
Henry County$141$4,384169.9$6.53
Houston County$65$3,906——
Humphreys County$62$3,358—$10.08
Perry County$94$3,130—$13.72
Stewart County$65$4,031—$20.09
Median next door$75$3,459161.2 2 co.$11.90

Counties that share a stretch of boundary. An older rent carries its year and stays out of the median.

Cite this page

AGSIST Farmland Atlas. Benton County, Tennessee. Figures as of 2026-09-20, from USDA NASS, USDA RMA, USDA FSA, the U.S. Drought Monitor and NOAA. https://agsist.com/farmland-atlas/tennessee/benton-county
Every figure is a county average from the sources named below. Ranks count counties with 10,000 acres or more in farms, in the same survey year for rent, within the state. Methods: how each figure is built. Downloads: all counties, CSV.
Sources, dates and arithmetic

"Figures as of" is the date this page's numbers last changed; it moves only when a figure on the page does. Source files and their retrieval dates are listed on the data page.

Rent: USDA NASS Cash Rents Survey, county. Land value: Census of Agriculture, operators' estimate of land and buildings. Yield: NASS county corn yields, trend fitted here over every published year since 2008. Loss ratio: claims (indemnity) divided by total premium, USDA RMA Summary of Business, 1989 on, open crop year left out. Drought: U.S. Drought Monitor, weeks with half the county or more in D2 or worse. July lows: NOAA nClimDiv county monthly minimum temperature. A dash means the record does not carry the figure or the source withheld it; the reason is printed beside it.